ELEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: JUNE 22, 2024

Greetings, beloved family and Happy Saturday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time!

On this special feast day, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for the sick and dying. We especially pray for our loved ones who have recently died and we continue to pray for the repose of their gentle souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

PRAYER FOR THE DEAD: In your hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brothers and sisters. In this life you embraced them with your tender love; deliver them now from every evil and bid them eternal rest. The old order has passed away: welcome them into paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain, but fullness of peace and joy with your Son & the Holy Spirit forever & ever. Amen🙏

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube | June 22, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | June 22, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |June 22, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | June 22, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | June 22, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteries VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |

Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |

Today’s Bible Readings, Saturday, June 22, 2024
Reading 1, Second Chronicles 24:17-25
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 89:4-5, 29-30, 31-32, 33-34
Gospel, Matthew 6:24-34

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT PAULINUS OF NOLA, BISHOP; SAINTS JOHN FISHER, BISHOP AND MARTYR AND THOMAS MORE, MARTYR AND SAINT ALBAN, MARTYR ~ FEAST DAY: JUNE 22ND Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Paulinus of Nola, Bishop; Saints John Fisher, Bishop and Martyr and Thomas More, Martyr and Saint Alban, Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and  the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick and dying, we  particularly pray for those who are sick and dying, those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the poor and the needy, for peace, love and unity in our families and our world. And we continue to pray for the Church, the Clergy, with special intention for all Priests during this Novena, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world.🙏

SAINT PAULINUS OF NOLA, BISHOP: St. Paulinus was born of a patrician
Senatorial Roman family at Bordeaux, Gaul, in present-day France during 354. Saint Paulinus of Nola gave up his life in politics to become a monk, a bishop, and a revered Christian poet of the 5th century. Born at Bordeaux in present-day France during 354, Paulinus came from an illustrious family in the Roman imperial province of Aquitania. He received his literary education from the renowned poet and professor Ausonius, and eventually rose to the rank of governor in the Italian province of Campania. Not yet baptized or a believer in Christ, St. Paulinus was nonetheless struck by the Campanians’ devotion to the martyr Saint Felix at his local shrine. He took the initiative to build a road for pilgrims, as well as a hospice for the poor near the site of St. Felix’s veneration. But Paulinus grew dissatisfied with his civil position, leaving Campania and returning to his native region from 380 to 390. He also married a Spanish Catholic woman named Therasia. St. Paulinus’ wife, Therasia, along with Bishop Delphinus of Bordeaux, and St. Martin the Bishop of Tours, guided him toward conversion.

St. Paulinus and his brother were baptized on the same day by Bishop Delphinus. But it was not long into his life as a Christian, that two shattering upheavals took place. St. Paulinus’ infant son, his only child died shortly after birth; and when St. Paulinus’ brother also died, he was accused in his murder. After these catastrophes, St. Paulinus and Therasia mutually agreed to embrace monasticism, living in poverty and chastity. Around 390, they both moved to Spain given away their considerable wealth. Approximately five years after his change of residence and lifestyle, the residents of Barcelona arranged for St. Paulinus’ ordination as a priest. During 395 he returned to the Italian city of Nola, where he and his wife both continued to live in chastity as monks. St. Paulinus made important contributions to the local church, particularly in the construction of basilicas. In 409, the monk was consecrated as the city’s bishop. St. Paulinus served as the Bishop of Nola for two decades. He gave his people not only an example of virtue but also wise guidance during the ravages and calamities of the Gothic invasion. His gifts as a poet and composer of hymns were matched by his knowledge of Scripture, generosity toward the poor, and devotion to the saints who had preceded him – especially St. Felix, whose intercession he regarded as central to his conversion. Praised by the likes of St. Augustine and St. Jerome for the depth of his conversion to Christ, the Bishop of Nola was regarded as a saint even before his death on the evening of June 22, 431 at the age of 78, and was buried at Nola near the tomb of St. Felix.

PRAYER: God, You willed that St. Paulinus, Your Bishop, should shine forth with pastoral solicitude and compassion for the poor. Help us who celebrate his merits to imitate the example of his charity. Amen 🙏

SAINTS JOHN FISHER, BISHOP AND MARTYR AND THOMAS MORE, MARTYR: St. John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester and St. Thomas More were martyrs against tyranny. St. John Fisher and his friend St. Thomas More gave up their lives in testimony to the unity of the Church and to the indissolubility of Marriage. St. John martyred on June 22, 1535, Tower of London and St. Thomas martyred on July 6, 1535. St. John was Canonized with Saint Thomas More in 1935.

SAINT JOHN FISHER, BISHOP AND MARTYR: St. John Fisher was born in Beverly, Yourkshine, in 1459. He studied Theology in Cambridge (England) and received his Master of Arts degree in 1491. He occupied the vicarage of Northallerton, 1491-1494; then he became proctor of Cambridge University. In 1497, he was appointed confessor to Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, and became closely associated in her endowments to Cambridge. He created scholarships, introduced Greek and Hebrew into the curriculum, and brought in the world- famous Erasmus as Professor of Divinity and Greek. In 1504, St. John became Bishop of Rochester and Chancellor of Cambridge, in which capacity he also tutored Prince Henry who was to become Henry VIII. St. John was dedicated to the welfare of his diocese and his university. From 1527, this humble servant of God actively opposed the King’s divorce proceeding against Catharine, his wife in the sight of God, and steadfastly resisted the encroachment of Henry on the Church. Unlike the other Bishops of the realm, St. John refused to take the oath of succession, which acknowledged the issue of Henry and Anne as the legitimate heir to the throne, and he was imprisoned in the Tower in April 1534. The next year he was made a Cardinal by Paul III, and Henry retaliated by having him beheaded within a month. A half-hour before execution, this dedicated scholar and churchman opened his New Testament for the last time and his eyes fell on the following words St. John’s Gospel: “Eternal life is this: to know You, the only true God, and Him Whom You have sent, Jesus Christ. I have given You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave Me to do. Do You now, Father, give Me glory at Your side” (17:3-5). Closing the book, he observed: “There is enough learning in that to last me the rest of my life.” His friend, Thomas More, wrote of him, ‘I reckon in this realm no one man, in wisdom, learning and long approved virtue together, meet to be matched and compared with him.’ St. John was martyred on June 22, 1535, Tower of London and was canonized in 1935 by Pope Pius XI. He’s the Patron Saint of those persecuted for the Faith.

SAINT THOMAS MORE, MARTYR: St. Thomas More (1478–1535) was born in London England in 1478, the son of a lawyer and judge. He was educated in the finest schools and became a brilliant English statesman. After a thorough grounding in religion and the classics, he entered Oxford to study law. Upon leaving the university he embarked on a legal career that took him to Parliament. In 1505, he married his beloved Jane Colt who bore him four children, and when she died at a young age he married a widow, Alice Middleton, to be a mother for his young children. A wit and a reformer, this learned man numbered Bishops and scholars among his friends, and by 1516 wrote his world-famous book Utopia. King Henry VIII appointed St. Thomas to a succession of high posts, and finally made him Lord Chancellor in 1529. However, he resigned in 1532, at the height of his career and reputation, when Henry persisted in holding his own opinions regarding marriage and the supremacy of the Pope. As a family man and a public servant, his life was a rare synthesis of human sensitivity and Christian wisdom. The rest of Thomas’s life was spent in writing mostly in defense of the Church. In 1534, with his close friend, St. John Fisher, he refused to render allegiance to the King as the Head of the Church of England and was confined. Fifteen months later, and nine days after St. John Fisher’s execution, he was tried and convicted of treason. He told court that he could no go against his conscience and wished his judges that “we may yet hereafter in heaven merrily all met together to everlasting salvation.” And on the scaffold he told the crowd of spectators that he was dying as “the King’s good servant—but God’s first.” He was beheaded on July 6, 1535, and canonized in 1935 by Pope Pius XI. St. Thomas More is the Patron Saint of lawyers; statesmen and politicians (declared in 2000 by St. John Paul II); Adopted children; diocese of Arlington, Virginia; civil servants; court clerks; difficult marriages; large families;  diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee Florida; politicos; step-parents; widowers.

PRAYER: God, You consummated the form of the true faith in martyrdom. Through the intercession of Sts. John and Thomas, grant that we may confirm by the testimony of our lives that faith which we profess with our tongues. Amen🙏

SAINT ALBAN, MARTYR: He was the first Christian martyr in Britain during the early 4th century. He was a citizen of Verulam, although he was not a man of faith, St. Alban was very hospitable and compassionate. As a soldier, he sheltered a persecuted priest, Amphibalus, during a time when Christians were being put to death in Britain. The priest’s faith and piety struck St. Alban, as well as his dedication to prayer. Alban soon converted to Christianity by the persecuted priest, Amphibalus whom he sheltered in his house. It was not long until the Roman authorities caught up with Amphibalus. However, Alban’s new-found faith would not allow him to let the authorities arrest the priest. In an effort to help the priest escape, he switched clothes with the priest. St. Alban was caught and ordered to renounce his faith. St. Alban refused to worship idols, and when asked to state his name, answered “My name is Alban, and I worship and adore the only true and living God, who created all things.” And to this day, St. Alban’s prayer is used in St Alban’s Abbey: “I worship and adore the true and living God who created all things.”

When St. Alban refused to renounce his beliefs, the magistrate ordered that he should receive the punishment intended for the escaped priest. Upon this ruling, Alban was led out of Verulamium and up the hillside where he was tortured and beheaded. The person first selected to execute St. Alban heard his testimony and converted on the spot. After refusing to kill Alban, he was executed as well. A number of other conversions are claimed to have happened thanks to the witness of St. Alban’s martyrdom, specifically on behalf of spectators of his execution. Finally, when the priest learned that Alban was arrested in his place, he turned himself in, hoping to save Alban’s life. But that wasn’t the case. The priest was killed as well. St. Alban was executed on Holmhurst Hill. On that spot King Offa erected the Benedictine abbey of St. Alban’s by which name Verulam has since been known. The town where he was born was also renamed after him. St. Alban died in 303 in England. St. Alban is venerated as the proto-martyr of Britain. For centuries, the shrine of St. Alban in the abbey has been a destination for pilgrimages, and remains so today. He’s the Patron Saint of converts, refugees, torture victims.

Saint Alban’s Prayer: Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

Bible Readings for today, Saturday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB |
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062224.cfm

Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 6:24-34

“Do not worry about tomorrow”

“Jesus said to His disciples: “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will He not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’ All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is not saying ‘don’t ever worry about anything’. The focus of worry in the Gospel reading is food, drink and clothing, and the worry in question is excessive worry or preoccupation. Jesus makes reference in the reading to ‘the pagans who set their hearts on all these things’. The issue is setting our hearts on what is not of ultimate importance. Jesus must have worried about His disciples, especially when they did not seem to be fully receptive to His message. There is, however, a certain kind of worry that can take over our lives and leave us with very little freedom to attend to others. This seems to be the kind of worry that Jesus warns against in today’s Gospel reading, a fretful preoccupation about what is not of ultimate importance. We can be overly worried about food and clothing; we can fret about what we don’t yet possess. Jesus calls on us to have the kind of trusting relationship with God that preserves us from being unnecessarily anxious and fretful. He wants us to trust that God will look after us, just as He looks after the flowers of the field and the birds of the air, and, we, of course, are even more precious in His sight than those. There is a healthy worry that is of value, but there is also an unhealthy worry that Jesus is warning against and that shows a lack of trust in God as our loving and caring Father. At the end of the Gospel reading, Jesus suggests what we need to be anxious about, namely, God’s kingdom and His righteousness, the coming of God’s kingdom and the way of life that creates a space for its coming. Jesus says that if we give this the priority it deserves, then God will see to it that all our other needs will be met.

Our first reading today from the second Book of Chronicles of Israel and Judah details the story of the development in the kingdom of Judah during the reign of King Joash of Judah. In the earlier reading yesterday before today’s reading, this king by the grace of God had been saved from the massacre done by her grandmother, Queen Athaliah of Judah who usurped power from the House of David. God restored him and the House of David to power through the efforts and works of one faithful priest, Jehoiada, who helped and guided King Joash throughout the early years of his reign, ensuring that he and the people obeyed the Lord’s commandments and Law, and to live righteously and faithfully in God’s path. However, in today’s first reading, the moment the faithful Jehoiada passed away, King Joash was persuaded by his courtiers, nobles and advisors to carry out actions and practices that were against God’s Law and commandments, and the people once again began worshipping pagan gods and idols once again as they had done before. The people slipped once again back to their old wicked ways because they allowed themselves to be tempted by the many temptations, pressures, coercions and the allures of worldly pleasures, fame and glory being present all around them. All these were the reasons why God then raised the son of Jehoiada, named Zechariah to speak up against the King. But neither Zechariah nor the other prophets sent by the Lord to His people were able to persuade the King and all the others who had veered off from the path of righteousness and virtue. And not only that, the King and the others plotted against Zechariah and stoned the righteous man of God at the courtyard, committing murder against the Lord’s servant, a truly heinous and wicked act, and especially for the King, it was a total lack of appreciation and gratitude that he committed against the late Jehoiada, who had helped to shelter and protect the King himself in his youth, and raised him back to power, when this same King slaughtered Jehoiada’s son when the latter tried to advice and remind him to stay true to the Lord’s path as he should have done. Eventually, the retribution would come for the wicked, as the King and his forces, presumably all those who have committed the murder of Zechariah and led the people of God into sin, were crushed and routed by the forces of the Aramaeans, who wounded the King, and eventually, this same King Joash would be plotted against and killed by the other officers who disagreed with him, much in the same way that he had plotted the death of Zechariah, Jehoiada’s son. It was also mentioned in the Scriptures that he was not given burial in the place reserved to the kings of Israel and Judah, which was a clear sign that the king’s wickedness and vile actions were truly abominable and despised even after his death.

As we reflect on the words of the Scriptures today, we are all reminded clearly that as God’s holy and beloved people, each and every one of us must always be guided by God in all of our ways, in all of our words, actions and deeds, or else, we will find that it is easy for us to be persuaded, tempted and swayed into evil and wicked path in life, into actions that are contrary to the will and commandments of God. We will be dragged by all those temptations and wickedness into the ways that lead us into destruction and eternal damnation, rather than righteousness and salvation in God. Having witnessed and heard the great lives of the Holy Saints and Martyrs, let us all therefore do our best so that in our own respective lives, we may continue to live our lives worthily as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, so that in all the things that we say and do, we will always do our best to put God first and foremost in all things. We are all reminded that we should not allow the temptations and wickedness of this world to distract and mislead us down the path of ruin and damnation, and we are reminded to remain ever strong and faithful in our journey towards the Lord. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and be with us all, now and always. Amen 🙏

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF JUNE: The month of June is set apart for devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. “From among all the proofs of the infinite goodness of our Savior none stands out more prominently than the fact that, as the love of the faithful grew cold, He, Divine Love Itself, gave Himself to us to be honored by a very special devotion and that the rich treasury of the Church was thrown wide open in the interests of that devotion.” These words of Pope Pius XI refer to the Sacred Heart Devotion, which in its present form dates from the revelations given to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1673-75.

THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE – FOR MIGRANTS FLEEING THEIR HOMES: We pray that migrants fleeing from war or hunger, forced to undertake journeys full of danger and violence, find welcome and new opportunities in the countries that receive them.

https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024

PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:

Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have beķķen in vain. Now, Lord, come to our ajnid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds, so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen🙏

During this Ordinary Time, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏

Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/

PRAYER INTENTIONS: During this season of the Ordinary Time, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for our children and children all over the world, we pray for their health, safety and well-being, we particularly pray for those who have no one to care for them and those who are terminally ill, we pray for God’s Divine healing upon them. Every life is a gift. We pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle soul of our beloved family members who recently passed away and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. For all widows and widowers. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy and all those who preach the Gospel. We pray for Vocation to the Priesthood and Religious life. We particularly pray for all Youths and all Seminarians, with special intention for those Seminarians who will be ordained into Priesthood. For the Church, for persecuted Christians, for all the innocent who suffer violence due to political or religious unrest, for the conversion of sinners and Christians all over the world. Amen🙏

Let us pray:

My Lord and God, You are worthy of all of my love. You and You alone must become the single focus of all of my love. As I love You, dear Lord, help me to discover all that Your will directs me to love more and all that Your will calls me to detach from. May I choose only You and that which is contained in Your holy and perfect will. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Most Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Paulinus of Nola; Saints John Fisher and Thomas More and Saint Alban ~ Pray for us🙏

Thanking God for the gift of this day and the gift of the Holy Spirit and praying for justice, peace, love and unity in our families and our world and for God’s Divine Mercy and Grace upon us all. Have a blessed, safe, grace-filled and relaxing weekend 🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena 💖